Telecommunication cables are ubiquitous and used for distributing all manner of data across vast networks. The majority of cables are electrically conductive cables (typically copper), although the use of optical fiber cables is growing rapidly in telecommunication systems as larger and larger amounts of data are transmitted. Additionally, as data transmissions increase, the fiber optic network is being extended closer to the end user which can be a premise, business, or a private residence.
As telecommunication cables are routed across data networks, it is necessary to periodically open the cable so that one or more telecommunication lines therein may be spliced, thereby allowing data to be distributed to other cables or “branches” of the telecommunication network. At each point where a telecommunication cable is opened, it is necessary to provide a telecommunication enclosure to protect the exposed interior of the cable. The cable branches may be further distributed until the network reaches individual homes, businesses, offices, and so on. These networks are often referred to as fiber to the X (FTTX) networks which can include fiber to the premise (FTTP), fiber to the home (FTTH) and fiber to the antenna (FTTA) networks.
In an FTTH network, optical fiber is brought to the end user and connected to the optical network terminal (ONT) unit mounted on a wall at the end user. The ONT converts this optical signal into conventional electrical signals to provide voice (telephone), Internet (data) and video signals to the end user.
Fiber terminals are one type of telecommunication enclosure that is typically located near an end user in a FTTP network to distribute the final service to the end user. Typical fiber terminals are designed to drop services (to provide service connections) to a small number of premises having typically between four to twelve end users. The last service connection from the fiber terminal is made to the ONT, located at the end user using a drop cable. Typically, an optical connector attached to the terminal end of an optical fiber of the cable is preferred to allow quick, reliable field installation.
There are two basic methods of introducing an optical fiber into a telecommunication or enclosure. In the first method, the cable passes through an inlet let device fitted into a port of the telecommunication enclosure. The optical connection interface is made within the enclosure by either an optical connector or an optical splice. Conventional watertight optical fiber connectors are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,487,344 and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2011/0033157 which can be inserted into a port in the wall of a telecommunication enclosure.
The second method is to provide a weatherproof optical connection interface in or near a wall of the telecommunication using a sealed hardened connector that is factory mounted on the terminal end of an optical fiber cable and mating optical coupling mounted within a port or in the wall of the telecommunication enclosure, such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,648,520 and 7,090,406. This method has the advantage that service connections may be made without having to open the telecommunication enclosure in the field, but cleaning the optical interface and the need for specialized parts (e.g. the mating optical coupling) makes this approach less desirable.